1.04.258

Print, Photographic

1918

Waseca County WWI Enlistees by Courthouse, July 23, 1918. 8 3/4" x 6 1/2" black and white photograph of a large group of young men, enlisted to serve in World War I; posed in three rows outside the Waseca County Courthouse on July 23, 1918; all unidentified; all have identical drawstring bags and wear ribbons pinned to their lapels or shirts identifying them from Waseca County, Minn.; one man standing in back row is holding a U. S. flag; there is a dog with one man in front row left; photographed by Geo. Kopman; identified (not in order) Wilfred G. Proechel, Ewald LeRoy Gehring, Clarence Walter Koechel, Merle John Randall, John B. Werdin, Albert Behrns (to the left of the flag holder), Theodore Storley, Herman Tolzman, Ernest L. Grawunder, George P. Fuller, Edward B. Ketchback, George Arnold Bakken, Walter Weckwerth, Ray E. Otto, Walter Louis Wheeler, Walter Albert Peterson, Orlando A. Draheim, Leo H. Praxel, Andrew Melvin Fretham, Charles F. Johnson, John Lockway, Paul Buecksler, Charles Minges, Edward Robert Holtz, Leo Conway, Adolph Anderson, Sheadreck Harriman, James Crippen, William Mazourick, Levern Brooks, Nels P. Guldager, Ralph C. Clayton, Elwin Barber, Stephen T. Stahowiak. White print on front: "Left July 23, 1918, Waseca, Minn."

The drafted men were presented with $5.00 by the Waseca County Soldier's Fund association and with comfort kits donated by EACO Milling Co. Before they left for Camp Wadsworth, a ball was given by the fire department. The musical program and patriotic talks were given in Trowbridge Park. A parade was formed to escort the boys to the M & StL depot where they left on a special train.